Which teams can Melbourne out-perform enough to climb past them on the ladder?

I'd say it's realistic that we could win two mores games than the blues, so there's one.

St. Kilda seem to be floating turds at the moment. I'd say two games up on them would be credible. Two places up.

Brisbane are looking a little worse every week to me, two wins and a draw/win over 11 games? I think we can pick it up. Three places. We'd out of the bottom four.

Fremantle. Who knows? Really, does anybody know? On current form you'd say they'd struggle, but it wasn't until mid-late last year that they turned it on. Too tough to call anything. Like the Blues and Brisbane they have already played this round. Like the Blues and Brisbane we play them again this year.

Moving onto the incredible - reaching the finals.

I think it's fair to say that for our best shot we would need to see three teams out of seven at the upper-middle of the ladder fall away badly in the second half of the year.

Sydney. Port Adelaide. Kangaroos. Bulldogs. Collingwood. Essendon. Adelaide.

(Rnd18). (Rnd17). (Rnd16.). (Rnd19). (Rnd20). (rnd13). (---)

Do any of these teams look potentially flaky?

My read of the scenario is - if all these teams continue on existing balance then we would still be counting on percentage even if we won every remaining game.

If we win a spectacular 9/2 then we would need three of those teams to finish with 4/6, and we could slide in on percentage. On balance, I'd say that's the most probable scenario for a finals appearance.

That's "most probable", not "actually probable".

The worse that three of those seven teams perform, the fewer wins we'll need. After all, we only need one slot in the eight.

But always, one week at a time. The realistic goal is to get ourselves out of the damned bottom four. Pick five in the draft has served us well in the past, too!

I don't think we have a chance in hell of making the finals, but more importantly, and I know I'm going to cop it for this but I don't give a flying duck, I hope we stay in this position at the end of the season. We're not going to play finals and I'd prefer to get a quality kid, either Cotchin or Kreuzer, than a couple of meaningless wins and end up 9th ot 10th.

Flame away

  Jarka said:

I don't think we have a chance in hell of making the finals, but more importantly, and I know I'm going to cop it for this but I don't give a flying duck, I hope we stay in this position at the end of the season. We're not going to play finals and I'd prefer to get a quality kid, either Cotchin or Kreuzer, than a couple of meaningless wins and end up 9th ot 10th.

Flame away

I just want to see Melbourne play good football.

  Jarka said:

I don't think we have a chance in hell of making the finals, but more importantly, and I know I'm going to cop it for this but I don't give a flying duck, I hope we stay in this position at the end of the season. We're not going to play finals and I'd prefer to get a quality kid, either Cotchin or Kreuzer, than a couple of meaningless wins and end up 9th ot 10th.

Flame away

I don't know about you but I felt sick in the guts going to the footy for the first 9 weeks.

You can settle for losing.

I much prefer seeing Melbourne Football club win.

Next years another year.

  Bring-Back-Powell said:

I don't know about you but I felt sick in the guts going to the footy for the first 9 weeks.

You can settle for losing.

I much prefer seeing Melbourne Football club win.

Next years another year.

I'm only interested in winning premierships, they haven't won one while I've been alive, and they also haven't looked like winning one in the last ten years. I'm fully prepared for the club to do the smart thing for the rest of this season so we can be a much stronger club for the next couple of years.

  Jarka said:

I'm only interested in winning premierships, they haven't won one while I've been alive, and they also haven't looked like winning one in the last ten years. I'm fully prepared for the club to do the smart thing for the rest of this season so we can be a much stronger club for the next couple of years.

For me it's more than just premierships. It's about watching exciting young players begin promising careers. It's about getting excited when a forward kicks a freakish goal from the boundary line 50 metres out. It's about watching tough young bodies clear packs and belt the ball out of the middle. It's about watching a bloke take a courageous mark in the back half of the ground to prevent a certain goal, or chase down some pesky forward running in to an open goal 20 metres out. It's about screaming loudly at the end of the game when you know the players all put in 110% effort and we got up.

I want a premiership as much as anyone. I want to taste that ultimate success too. But not at the expense of every other joy I get out of footy. To me, every loss cuts deep. I hate the thought of finishing last, or close to it.

I'd prefer to see us get to the top through hard work, intelligent recruiting and gradual improvement. I think that would feel far less hollow than knowing we threw away seasons at a time just so we could improve our position in the draft.

  Nasher said:

I'd prefer to see us get to the top through hard work, intelligent recruiting and gradual improvement. I think that would feel far less hollow than knowing we threw away seasons at a time just so we could improve our position in the draft.

How do you feel when you see Brock do well?